Marwan Othman El-Hindi, 42, center, a U.S. citizen born in Jordan, is escorted by officials after being indicted by a federal grand jury on terrorism charges, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006, at the Federal Courthouse, in Toledo, Ohio. Three Muslim men from the Middle East were charged Tuesday with plotting terrorist attacks against U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq and other countries. (AP Photo/Madalyn Ruggiero) EDS NOTE: IMAGE SHOT THROUGH BARS

Photo: MADALYN RUGGIERO

Marwan Othman El-Hindi, 42, center, a U.S. citizen born in Jordan,...

3 men charged in terror conspiracy / They say they're not guilty of plots to kill Americans

2006-02-22 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- Three Ohioans were charged in federal courts on Tuesday with conspiring to kill U.S. forces in Iraq as part of an Islamic holy war against the United States.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in Washington that the three, originally from Jordan and Lebanon and living in Toledo, were "engaging in weapons training, sympathizing with the terrorists and seeking to provide help in order to kill people abroad, including our troops."

The three, Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 26, a dual citizen of Jordan and the United States; Marwan Othman el-Hindi, 42, a naturalized citizen born in Jordan; and Wassim I. Mazloum, 24, a legal permanent resident, were charged with conspiracy to commit terrorist acts overseas and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Amawi is also charged with threatening to kill President Bush.

The three pleaded not guilty Tuesday in federal courts in Toledo and Cleveland.

"It was part of the conspiracy that one or more conspirators would recruit others to train for violent jihad against the United States and its allies in Iraq and elsewhere," the indictment said.

The indictment also said the three had discussed applying for U.S. grants to obtain money to be diverted to their cause.

The indictment charges that the men solicited help from an individual identified only as "the trainer," who is described as a citizen with experience in the U.S. military. Much of the case against the men appears to come from the testimony of that individual.

The indictment says the charges are based on a series of activities by the three defendants, including viewing materials on Web sites on building explosive devices like those used against allied forces in Iraq and others that showed how to make a suicide bomb vest.

The indictment said the men used code words to communicate with colleagues in the Middle East who requested materials, including computers and explosives. Gonzales was asked whether the investigation was aided by the electronic domestic eavesdropping program that Bush authorized. Gonzales answered at length but did not address that.

"We are very, very much concerned about ensuring that we've done everything we can do to not jeopardize any prosecution, to not jeopardize any investigation," he said. "And I'll just leave it at that."

But Gregory White, the chief federal prosecutor in the northern district of Ohio, standing alongside Gonzales, suggested strongly that such clandestine wiretaps were not at the heart of the case.

Gonzales, without being questioned, addressed the fact that the men were charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, not with actual acts of terrorism. For example, the indictment said two men discussed with "the trainer" a plan to practice setting off explosives on the Fourth of July last year so that the activity would not be noticed. It did not say whether the plans were carried out.

"Let me be clear about why criminal charges such as these are important in our fight against terrorism," he said in his opening statement. "We cannot wait until an attack happens. We will continue to use our criminal laws as Congress intended, to charge individuals once they conspire to provide support to terrorism or conspire to kill abroad."